1878
Events January–March erected in London.]] * January 5 – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Battle of Philippopolis: Russian troops defeat the Turks. * January 23 – Benjamin Disraeli orders the British fleet to the Dardanelles. * January 24 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg. * January 28 – The Yale News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States. * January 31 – Turkey agrees to an armistice at Adrianople. * February 2 – Greece declares war on Turkey . * February 7 – Pope Pius IX dies after a 31½ year reign (the longest definitely confirmed). * February 8 – The British fleet enters Turkish waters and anchors off Istanbul; Russia threatens to occupy Istanbul but does not carry out the threat. * February 18 – The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico. * February 19 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison. * February 20 – Pope Leo XIII succeeds Pope Pius IX as the 256th pope. * February 23 - Sadguru Shri Gajanan Maharaj appeared at Shegaon, Dist: Buldhana, Maharashtra. * February 24 – Anti-Russian demonstrations occur in Hyde Park, London. * February 28 – Mississippi State University is created by the Mississippi Legislature (under the name The Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi). – Eldkvarn burns in Stockholm.]] * March 24 – The British Royal Navy frigate capsizes in the English Channel, killing all but two of the 319 crew. * March 25 – Russia rejects a British proposal to lay the San Stefano treaty before a European congress. * March 27 – In anticipation of war with Russia, Disraeli mobilizes the reserves and calls up Indian troops to Malta. in 1878 and the territorial and political rearrangement of the Balkan Peninsula.]] April–June * April 20 – The Stawell Gift is run for the first time in Australia. * May 2 – The Washburn "A" Mill in Minneapolis explodes, killing 18. * May 15 – The Tokyo Stock Exchange is established. * May 25 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore debuts in London at the Opera Comique with a first run of 571 performances. * June 1 – General Postal Union renamed Universal Postal Union (UPU). * June 4 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains the nominal title. * June 13–July 13 – The Congress of Berlin convenes to discuss the Ottoman Empire. * June 15 – Eadweard Muybridge produces the sequence of stop-motion still photographs Sallie Gardner at a Gallop in California, a predecessor of silent film demonstrating that all four feet of a galloping horse are off the ground at the same time. * June 20 – U.S. Coastal Survey renamed U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. * June 22 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld leaves Karlskrona on a voyage that will make him the first man to navigate the Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Siberian coast. July–September * July 4 – A match race between champion thoroughbred racehorses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty draws more than 30,000 fans to Louisville and inspires the folk song, "Molly and Tenbrooks". * July 13 – The Treaty of Berlin makes Serbia, Montenegro and Romania completely independent, confirms the autonomy of Bulgaria, makes Cyprus a British possession and allows Austria-Hungary to garrison the Bosnia Vilayet. * August 9 – The Wallingford Tornado of 1878, the deadliest tornado in Connecticut history, destroys the town of Wallingford, killing 34 people and injuring more than 70. * August 26 – Uyedineniya Island is discovered in the Kara Sea by Norwegian explorer Captain Edvard Holm Johannesen. * September 3 – Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames. * September 12 – Cleopatra's Needle is erected in London, having arrived in England on January 21. * September 20 – The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, is founded. October–December * October 1 – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) opens as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in the United States. * October 14 – The world's first recorded floodlit football fixture is played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. * October 17 – John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada. * October 31 – A fire destroys the Eldkvarn gristmill mill in Stockholm, Sweden. * November 17 – The first assassination attempt is made against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in one arm. Prime minister Benedetto Cairoli blocks the aggressor, receiving a leg injury. * November 21 – The Second Anglo-Afghan War commences when the British attack Ali Masjid in the Khyber Pass. * November 26 – American-born artist James McNeill Whistler's libel case against English critic John Ruskin over a review of the painting Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (in which Whistler is described as "flinging a pot of paint in the public's face")Ruskin, John (1877-07-02). Fors Clavigera. is decided in the High Court of Justice in London. Whistler wins a farthing in nominal damages and only half of the costs, leading to his bankruptcy, and alienates patrons.Whistler, J. McNeill (1890). The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. * December 7 — The United States territory of New Mexico is linked to the rest of the nation by railroad for the first time as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway inaugurates a newly completed line through the Raton Pass. * December 25 — Stella Maris Church in Sliema, Malta becomes a parish - seceding from the Parish of St. Helen's in Birkirkara. Date unknown * U.S. arbitration rejects Argentine claims to Paraguay's part of the Chaco region. * Otto von Bismarck abandons his Kulturkampf and forces through legislation outlawing the Social Democrats. * 10-year Nauruan Tribal War breaks out. * Yellow fever in the Mississippi Valley kills over 13,000. * Foundation of: ** Nainital Cantonment. ** The Buchan School, Isle of Man. ** The Johns Hopkins University Press, America's oldest university press. ** Geiger (corporation), formed as Geiger Brothers. ** The following English Association football clubs: *** Everton Football Club, formed as St Domingo. *** Grimsby Town F.C., formed as Grimsby Pelham. *** Ipswich Town Football Club, formed as amateur club Ipswich A.F.C. They will not turn professional until 1936. *** Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club, the team that will become Manchester United. *** West Bromwich Albion F.C.. * Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is published complete in book form in Moscow. * Lester Allan Pelton produces the first operational Pelton wheel. * Death of last confirmed Cape lion. * Remington, in the United States, introduce their No. 2 typewriter, the first with a shift key enabling production of lower as well as upper case characters. * In Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, the much studied stele of the Roman legionary Caius Largennius is discovered. Births January–June * January 4 ** A. E. Coppard, English short story writer and poet (d. 1957) ** Augustus John, Welsh-born painter (d. 1961) * January 6 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967) * January 9 – John B. Watson, American psychologist (d. 1958) * January 11 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1952) * January 12 – Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian-born author (d. 1952) * January 16 – Harry Carey, American actor (d. 1947) * January 20 – Finlay Currie, Scottish actor (d. 1968) * January 22 – Constance Collier, English stage & screen actress (d. 1955) * January 23 – Rutland Boughton, English composer (d. 1960) * January 25 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-born television pioneer (d. 1975) * February 1 – Milan Hodža, Slovak politician, champion of regional integration in Europe (d. 1944) * February 2 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect (d. 1955) * February 3 – Gordon Coates, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943) * February 5 – André Citroën, French automobile manufacturer (d. 1935) * February 8 – Martin Buber, Austrian philosopher (d. 1965) * February 14 – Hirota Koki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948) * February 16 **Giacomo "James" Colosimo, Italian-born American gangster (d. 1920) **Selim Palmgren, Finnish composer (d. 1951) * February 18 – Kate Gordon, American psychologist (d. 1963) * February 21 – The Mother (Mirra Alfassa), multi-origined spiritual leader and founder of Auroville in India (d. 1973) * February 26 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano (d. 1930) * February 28 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929) * March 4 ** Egbert Van Alstyne, United States songwriter and pianist (d. 1951) ** Peter D. Ouspensky, Russian philosopher (d. 1947) ** Arishima Takeo, Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist (d. 1923) * March 5 – P. D. Ouspensky, Russian mathematician (d. 1947) * March 16 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1946) * March 22 – Michel Théato, Luxembourg athlete (d. 1919) * March 26 – Henry Gullett, Australian politician (d. 1940) * March 31 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946) * April 1 – C. Ganesha Iyer, Ceylon Tamil Philologist (d. 1958) * April 4 – Stylianos Lykoudis, Greek admiral (d. 1958) * April 6 – Erich Mühsam, German author (d. 1934) * April 24 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958) * April 28 ** Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954) ** Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (d. 1951) ]] * May 3 – Jean Chiappe, French civil servant (d. 1940) * May 10 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929) * May 18 – Dr. Prescott, American doctor, explorer, and philanthropist (d. 1938) * May 21 – Glenn H. Curtiss, American aviation pioneer (d. 1930) * May 25 – Bill Robinson, African American tap dancer (d. 1949) * May 27 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972) * May 28 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945) * June 1 – John Masefield, English poet and novelist (d. 1967) * June 3 – Barney Oldfield, American automobile racer and pioneer (d. 1946) * June 5 – Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923) * June 12 – James Oliver Curwood, American writer and conservationist (d. 1927) * June 20 – Will Mastin, American vaudevillian (d. 1975) * June 27 – He Xiangning, Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter and poet (d. 1972) July–December ]] ]] ]] * July 3 – George M. Cohan, American singer, dancer, composer, actor, and writer (d. 1942) * July 8 - Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945) * July 10 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (d. 1943) * July 12 **Claude C. Bloch, American admiral (d. 1967) **Peeter Põld, Estonian pedagogical scientist and politician (d. 1930) * July 24 – Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author (d. 1957) * August 1 – Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1961) * August 2 – Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, Princess of Sweden (d. 1958) * August 4 – Ernest Lundeen, American lawyer and politician (d. 1940) * August 9 – Eileen Gray, Irish architect and furniture designer (d. 1976) * August 10 – Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957) * August 13 – Harold Clarke Goddard, American professor and Shakespearean scholar (d. 1950) * August 19 – Manuel L. Quezon, 2nd President of the Philippines (d. 1944) * August 27 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general and anti-Bolshevik leader (d. 1928) * August 28 – George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976) * August 31 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933) * September 2 – Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (d. 1946) * September 5 – Robert von Lieben, Austrian physicist (d. 1913) * September 9 – Sergio Osmena, 4th President of the Philippines (d. 1961) * September 13 – Matilde Moisant, American pilot (d. 1964) * September 14 – Ion Farris, American politician, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (d. 1934) * September 18 **Robert Brooke-Popham, British air chief marshal (d. 1953) **James O. Richardson, American admiral (d. 1974) * September 20 – Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968) * September 22 – Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1967) * September 24 – C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947) * October 1 – Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (d. 1950) * October 2 – Richard Spikes, African American inventor (d. 1963) * October 9 – Robert Warwick, American stage & screen actor (d. 1964) * October 12 – Karl Buresch, 9th Chancellor of Austria (d. 1936) * October 15 – Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister of France (d. 1966) * October 16 – Maxie Long, American athlete (d. 1959) * October 17 – Louise Dresser, American actress (d. 1965) * October 29 – Alexander von Falkenhausen, German general (d. 1966) * November 1 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959) * November 14 ** Inigo Campioni, Italian admiral (d. 1944) ** Julie Manet, French painter (d. 1966) ** Leopold Staff, Polish poet (d. 1957) * November 17 – Grace Abbott, American social worker and activist (d. 1939) * November 23 ** Ernest Joseph King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations (COMINCH-CNO) during World War II (d. 1956) ** Frank Pick, British transport administrator and designer (d. 1941) * December 1 – Nathaniel Baldwin, American inventor and a supporter of the early Mormon fundamentalist movement (d. 1961) * December 10 – C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. (d. 1972) * December 18 – Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953) * December 25 ** Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race driver and automobile builder (d. 1941) ** Joseph Schenck, Russian-born American film executive (d. 1961) * December 28 – Nikolai Bryukhanov, Soviet statesman and political figure who served as People's Commissar of Finances (d. 1938) * December 31 ** Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1966) ** Horacio Quiroga, Argentine writer (d. 1937) Deaths January–June ]] ]] ]] * January 5 – Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, 6th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1804) * January 8 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821) * January 9 – King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820) * January 18 – Antoine César Becquerel, French scientist (b. 1788) * February 7 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792) * February 11 – Gideon Welles, American politician (b. 1802) * February 18 – John Tunstall, American rancher and merchant, First man to be killed in the Lincoln County War (b. 1853) * February 19 – Charles-François Daubigny, French painter (b. 1817) * February 26 – Angelo Secchi, Italian astronomer (b. 1818) * March 8 – Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (b. 1802) * March 20 – Julius von Mayer, German physician and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics (b. 1814) * March 27 – George Gilbert Scott, British architect (b. 1811) * April 4 ** Richard M. Brewer, American gunslinger and cowboy (b. 1850) ** Buckshot Roberts, American buffalo hunter who killed Richard M. Brewer (shot) (b. 1831) * April 8 – Henrietta Treffz, soprano, first wife of Johann Strauss II (b. 1818) * April 11 – Robert Wentworth Little, British occultist (b. 1840) * April 12 – William M. Tweed, American politician (b. 1823) * April 25 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820) * May 12 – Anselme Payen, French chemist (b. 1795) * May 13 – Joseph Henry, American scientist (b. 1797) * May 14 – Ōkubo Toshimichi, Japanese samurai and later leader of the Meiji restoration (b. 1830) * May 28 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792) * June 6 ** Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, Marshal of France (b. 1795) ** Robert Stirling, Scottish clergyman and inventor (b. 1790) * June 12 – George V of Hanover (b. 1819) * June 27 – Sidney Breese, U.S. senator from Illinois known as the "father of the Illinois Central Railroad" (b. 1800) July–December ]] * July 1 – Catherine Winkworth, English translator of hymns (b. 1827) * July 17 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812) * July 23 – Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Bohemian pathologist, philosopher and politician (b. 1804) * August 13 – Henry James Montague, English-born actor (b. 1844) * August 16 – Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (b. 1802) * August 26 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Discalced Carmelite and Melkite Greek Catholic nun and saint, canonized (b. 1846) * August 30 – James Geiss, English businessman (b. 1820) * September 7 – Mehmed Ali Pasha, Prussian-born Ottoman military leader (b. 1827) * October 20 – Hiram Paulding, American admiral (b. 1797) * November 20 – William Thomas (Islwyn), Welsh poet (b. 1832) * November 28 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader (b. 1805) * December 10 – Henry Wells, American businessman (b. 1805) * December 14 – Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (b. 1843) * December 25 – Henry K. Hoff, American admiral (b. 1809) In fiction * The Doctor Who novel Imperial Moon takes place in this year. References Further reading * Category:1878